The Regulator (Complete First Draft)

Chapter 42: Andrew - A Moment to Forget

“Annaliese! Do we have another Iron Man costume!” Andrew shouted from the back of the cabin. The cabin was a whirlwind of chaos as Andrew and Annaliese tried to get the eight boys ready for the Halloween party.

“I don’t know, what for!” Annaliese shouted from the side porch.

“James mask is broken!”

“I’m putting face paint on Niko right now, you can check the stockpile if you want! Gavin still hasn’t moved it yet! Shit! Oh, I mean, oops. Goddammit.” Annaliese said.

“What happened?” Andrew could hear Niko asking.

“Nothing, don’t worry, your face is fine.” Annaliese said, hurriedly.

“I didn’t ask about my face...”

“Because it’s fine!” Annaliese said excitedly. Andrew and James laughed and Andrew turned and ran out the front door. He jumped the stair down to the ground and ran over to the white pick-up truck gavin had parked outside the cabin. The back was filled with all types of Halloween costumes. Andrew dug through them quickly, searching for an Iron Man mask.

“Andrew, make sure you find me a Captain America costume!” Seth shouted from inside.

“I refuse, he’s the worst Avenger!” Andrew responded quickly and sharply.

“No, that’s Thor.” Seth said, without a moments hesitation.

“Do you two really have to have this debate right now!” Annaliese said, trying to conecntrate on fixing Niko’s face. “Besides, Hawkeye is the worst avenger.”

“f***ing ridiculous.” Andrew muttered to himself as he found an Iron Man and Captain America costume. He ran back to the door, through it open, and ran right into a rather small skeleton with a blood covered face.

“Holy crap!” Andrew said. He wasn’t scared of the face, but it came out of nowhere and he was in a rush.

“Hahahaha.” The voice underneath the mask laughed. It lifted it up to reveal that it was Anthony, “You like it?”

“It does the job.” Andrew said, quickly. Squeezing by Anthony and throwing Seth and James their costumes. Seth and James caught them and, like clock work, ripped open the bags and through them on. As they did, Danny came bursting out of the bathroom. No shirt, bandana on his head, and holding a plastic machete.

“Rambo?” Andrew asked, between breathes.

“Rambo!” Danny said, holding the machete up in a victorious stance.

“Ever seen the movie?”

“Rambo?”

“First Blood?” Andrew asked. Danny just looked at him confused, Andrew shrugged.

“Okay, boom, done!” Annaliese shouted, practically shoving the make-up covered Niko through the door. His face was completely white, with black lips, and a black cape. “Just gotta draw a mustache on Jaxon and we’re done here!”

“So you’re Dracula?” Andrew asked.

“Yup!”

“Okay so we’ve got Dracula, Rambo, Captain America, Iron Man, Scary... face...thing, and...?” Andrew rattled off.

“Mario!” Jaxon shouted from the porch.

“Oh, of course. Mario. Yeah, it’s def Halloween.” Andrew said, near sarcastically. As he said it, a fully dressed up and facial hair’d Jaxon and a normal Annaliese burst into the main room.

“I... I think we’re done.” Annaliese said. taking a deep breathe and putting her hands on her hips. Andrew and the boys looked at her.

“Why are you tired?” Jaxon asked in an incredibly condescending tone. Andrew fist bumped him.

“Oh just... the stress of it all...” Annaliese said, fanning herself.

“Ummm, okay.” Andrew giggled. “You mind bringing them down to the mess hall? I’ve got some stuff to take care of and they should get down before sunset.”

“Uh, yeah sure, no problem.” Annaliese said. She lined the boys up, and within moments they were all out the door and heading for the mess hall. As they exited the porch, Andrew collapsed on his bed. Finally taking a moment for himself.